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Exploring the Future of Big Box Retail

A P R . 2 7 T H - M A Y 2 N D , 2 0 1 6

2 2 4 P O S T S

2 1 P A R T I C I P A N T S

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Background and Objectives

Big box retailers have been a mainstay of the American market for several decades, achieving success through a formula of low pricing and wide assortments in a given category (e.g., Home Depot in home improvements, Staples in office supplies, Best Buy in consumer electronics, etc.). In the past decade-and-a-half, these retailers have been especially vulnerable to the rise of e-commerce and mobile commerce, as well as the decline of showrooming, which was once a strong feature of the traditional big box retailer. Additionally, retailers have failed to define innovative business models in this fast-evolving landscape.

While their models of the past were once effective and earned them credibility as “category killers” in their domain, the future of big box retail (for companies like Best Buy, Costco, Macy’s, Staples) is unclear.

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F A C I L I T A T O R

Participants

Participants included experts in retail and channel who have insight into the challenges facing Big Box Retailers and the dynamic retail landscape.

James BlackMarketing & Insights Consultant and Freelancer

Dustin GarisFounderLifeProfit

Jeff KnottChairmanTintagel Capital Holdings, LLC

Mark ScottMarketing Consultant

Rick PlanosConsulting PartnerGlobal Retail Solutions

Jaber SahouriehDirector of Sales, Omnichannel SolutionsEbates, Rakuten

Elaine BoxerManaging DirectorSC Ventures

Justin SchuhardtDirector of Operations, Omnichannel Supply ChainWalmart & Sam’s Club eCommerce

Michael A. DisserPresidentMAD Marketing, LLC

Andres SiefkenPresident, CEO, Chief Marketing Officer Advisor

Francois WeversOwnerBusiness Consulting

Marc ReintjesOwner, ConsultantMarc Reintjes Consulting

Patrick Van SchieSenior Regional Commercial DirectorHeineken NV

Doris HernandezSupply Chain and Operations Consultant

Gopi KrishnanVP Digital Innovation & DomainWipro

Maria LeoMerchandising Management ConsultantXpresSpa, Lion Merchandising Advisors

Peter DammannPrincipalRedview Digital

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Biggest challenge facing BBRs today: Create a differentiated customer experience

53.33% | 8 VOTESCreating a

differentiated shopper experience

6.67% | 1 VOTEDelivering customer service

6.67% | 1 VOTEHaving compelling product assortment

20.00% | 3 VOTESDeveloping competitive

pricing strategy13.33% | 2 VOTESDelivering on customers’ needs for convenience

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Focusing on the customer experience is key for success, but will not be an easy path

Ability of Big Boxes to Implement

Mar

ket D

eman

d

Lower

Higher

Higher

Focus on service and experience

Focus on convenience

Stay the course

Compete directly vs. amazon

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“The BBR needs to find their own paths to glory. It is definitely not possible to continue their formulas without adjustments… The biggest assortments can be found on the internet and prices are very comparable.”- Patrick Van Schie

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Executive Summary

Developing competitive pricing strategies

Low pricing strategies are challenged in a world of showrooming and omni-channel competition

Creating a differentiated shopper experience

Big box retailers need to move beyond the “warehouse” and deliver a unique customer experience

Delivering on customer’s service needs and evolving standards for convenience

Big box retailers need to redefine service in the eyes of the consumer and in the eyes of emerging consumer segments like Millennials

Big Box Retailers (BBRs) face three big challenges in adapting to the new retail landscape

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Creating a Differentiated Shopper Experience

Big box retailers need to move beyond the “warehouse” and deliver a unique customer experience

Tailor your assortment to your target and always have the right items in stock

Distinguish your product offering to make your store stand out

“Attractive and applicable assortments for your clientele. Not one size fits all. Invest in technology and I.T. rigorously to accomplish this. Work closely with your vendors to manage inventory precisely (VMI).”

“If your product is differentiated (and thus, not replicable), there is a good chance of success in the e-commerce front. Unfortunately, BBRs don’t fare quite well in this front.”

Gopi Krishnan VP Digital Innovation & DomainWipro


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Developing Competitive Pricing Strategies

Tactically: Get ahead of showrooming Strategically: Develop a holistic omni-channel pricing strategy

“As for combating the inevitable problem - Showrooming - the simple answer is: always match price. Just take that right out of the equation. Let customers stand in the store and comparison shop with their smartphone (because they will), and promise always to beat it.”

“BBRs have learned to leverage data, personalize the shopping experience, ensure more competitive pricing and developing a more ‘omni-channel’ experience.”

Elaine Boxer Managing DirectorSC Ventures

Jaber SahouriehDirector of Sales, Omnichannel SolutionsEbates, Rakuten

Low pricing strategies are challenged in a world of showrooming and omni-channel competition

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Delivering on Customers’ Service Needs and Evolving Standards for Convenience

Design the store and the overall shopper experience around how the target defines convenience to them

Big box retailers need to think about how Millennials are redefining service and shopping elsewhere

“Ease of product location, quick online order pick-up, fast check-out options, readily available customer service support, etc. Convenience is not just the products being offered but the service as well.”

“Millennials are concerned with relationships, community, personalization/uniqueness, social responsibility. The very essence of big box stores and grocery stores, from its layout (big) to the assortment (category killers) conflicts with up and coming psyche of this consumer.”

Maria Leo Merchandising Management ConsultantXpresSpa, Lion Merchandising Advisors


Big box retailers need to redefine service in the eyes of the consumer, and in the eyes of emerging consumer segments like Millennials

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Chief among these are leveraging “big data” to improve customer intimacy and hiring and retaining the right employees in a challenging labor environment as customers’ needs proliferate.

There are a number of key challenges to the future of big box retail that go beyond the threat of e-commerce

“Big Box retailers can benefit from the use of Big Data and customizing the brick-and-mortar merchandise offering to local market demographics and using the online channel for other items, especially bulky ones which can take up valuable retail space. They can continue to drive higher dollar per square foot productivity while expanding their offering online for smaller customer segments.”


Conclusions

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Leverage brick-and-mortar

BBRs need to leverage their stores to delight customers in ways that online services cannot

Rethinking Space

The key opportunity is in rethinking space, with a mix of smaller formats and adding store-within-stores

Develop winning formula vs. Amazon

To compete against Amazon, BBRs need to offer something more specialized and different

Staying the course will be challenging for BBRs

BBRs need to focus beyond price and assortment and revisit service, format, and the customer experience

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Rethinking Space

Leverage the large format to drive customer experiences and up-sell customers

Develop an experience that consumers can’t get anywhere else

Use the space to up-sell and serve customers

“Recreate the retail space as a destination where customers can participate in experiences offered nowhere else.”

“Use the store to provide more services that can attract more customers and up-sell them thinking not only that you should do it with in-store sales because the costs you have, but online as well.”

Andres SiefkenPresident, CEO, Chief Marketing Officer Advisor


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Leverage Brick-and-Mortar

Surprising and delighting the customer in store is an untapped opportunity

Learn from other retailers that are winning

“Brick and mortars have an advantage if they choose to use it -people on site. “Surprise and delight” the customer.”

“[Club retail will win] because they’re focused on a few priorities and execute flawlessly such as small assortment of high volume SKUs, high quality items, and perceived value to consumers.”

Francois Wevers OwnerBusiness Consulting


Big box retailers need to harness the inherent advantage in their stores, and to learn from others who are excelling at driving store sales, like Costco

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Develop Winning Formula vs. Amazon

The ability to serve a customer at the precise moment of need is a key advantage

Existing strategies, such as low pricing, are useful but retailers will need to implement new ways of attracting buyers

“The competitive advantage over pure-play e-commerce retailers are one, you can walk out of the store with the product that day, and two, theoretically, you can get someone to help you in a store.”

“BBRs need to reorganize themselves differently, preserving key aspects that make them unique like low prices and assortment, but enticing the customers in a different way.”

Andres Siefken President, CEO, Chief Marketing Officer Advisor

Peter DammannPrincipalRedview Digital

Competing against Amazon will only get more intense, but Big Box retailers still have advantages they can leverage

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“BBRs need to focus on providing a seamless experience for all these transactions and in-store transactions as well…BBRs are not only competing with e-commerce but amongst themselves with the high volume of stores in close proximity of each other.”

“Big box retailers need to define and decide what makes them truly distinctive and focus on that point of difference and jettison things that don’t support their POD.”


Mark ScottMarketing Consultant

Further takeaways

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Re-focus stores on customers’ needs

Make stores more experiential, more efficient and consider new formats

Drive Service

Service needs to be a priority from the top down

Make employees feel valued

Leadership needs to show front line employees that they are valued in order to drive change in performance

Improving the positioning of BBRs

To reposition in the competitive marketplace, BBRs need to improve service and the overall customer experience

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Drive Service

Addressing the real and perceived service gap requires (re)creating a service culture and strong support from leadership

(Re)create a service culture… … which requires strong employee support

“Companies need to foster a culture of service excellence by measuring, monitoring and making adjustments. Then reward those who meet and exceed the goals set forth.”

“The ‘people stuff’ is critical to the successful execution of the new strategy/vision. In order to ensure it does work, the employees need to be viewed as a valuable asset so they can in turn treat the customers the same way.”

Doris Hernandez Supply Chain and Operations Consultant


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Re-Focus Stores on Customers’ needs

Make sections of the store feel distinct to particular groups of customers

Design the store’s flow around how the customer shops naturally

“Making each section of the store look and feel different, so multiple people shopping together can go to “their” section.”

“Relay the floor plan to move customers around from experience to experience (remember IKEA?).”

Michael A. Disser PresidentMAD Marketing, LLC


Design the store around how the target customer(s) shop

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Make Employees Feel Valued

Share how front line employees’ work contributes to the company’s goals…

… and reinforce customer-centric behaviors

“Show individuals how they contribute. Overemphasize the front line in your communication process. Individuals need to know how their work contributes to the organization’s goals.”

“If a company wants to be customer-centric, the management needs to demonstrate the right behaviors. Culture is not about what you say, but about what you do.”

Patrick Van Schie Senior Regional Commercial DirectorHeineken NV


Leadership needs to show how employees’ work ties to the company’s goals and build a customer-centric organization

“Stay nimble and be ready to change quickly!“

“You’re not doomed. People will always want to go to places with other people.”

“Look at Wegman’s, Publix, Southwest Airlines, Starbuck’s, Apple stores, and the like. It’s ALL about taking care of the customer from the time he/she enters your store or your website, until he/she returns again and again.“

Rick PlanosConsulting PartnerGlobal Retail Solutions

Elaine BoxerManaging DirectorSC Ventures


ConclusionsWhile the retail landscape is challenging for Big Box Retailers, they still have a right to win if they evolve to meet customers’ needs.

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